UFC's Wanderlei Silva will fight again, next bout in works

Despite some not-so-subtle suggestions that the fighter retire, UFC President Dana White said Wanderlei Silva will compete in the UFC again.

Following the MMA legend’s loss to Rich Franklin at UFC 147 in June, White suggested Silva may be ready for retirement, as MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) previously reported.

But on Saturday, White said the 36-year-old fighter will return to the cage and that his next fight is in the works.

White didn’t specify an opponent or a date.

“But he’s going to fight again,” White said.

Silva, who began his fighting career way back in 1996, has lost four of his past six fights, and he’s just 3-7 since 2006 (with four knockout losses). Most recently, he headlined UFC 147 in his home country of Brazil and suffered a decision loss to former champion Franklin in the June 23 headliner.

“I’m not saying he needs to retire, but he’s getting close,” White said after the defeat.

Silva (34-12-1 MMA, 4-7 UFC), who now runs a fight team out of Las Vegas, has been a fixture with the UFC since rejoining the promotion in late 2007 (he had a handful of UFC fights more than a decade ago before he began a legendary run in PRIDE). In addition to fighting duties, including seven headlining or co-headlining spots in his eight recent UFC fights, Silva has been a go-to guy for media, fan and promotional events.

Fore more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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